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Brad Armstrong
|birth_place = Marietta, Georgia |death_date = |death_place= Marietta, Georgia |resides= |billed= |trainer= Bob Armstrong |debut= July 1980 |retired= |}} Bradley "Brad" James (June 15, 1961 - November 1, 2012) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Brad Armstrong. He was the son of Bob Armstrong and has three brothers that also wrestle, Steve, Scott and Brian. Career Brad started out in Southeast Championship Wrestling in July 1980. He was a face, or good guy, due to his good looks and superb wrestling ability. He feuded with Jerry Stubbs and Tom Prichard during his stay there and won the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) United States Junior Heavyweight title there. National Wrestling Alliance Later he moved to the Georgia part of the NWA and feuded with Ted DiBiase and with father Bob, The Fabulous Freebirds of Michael Hayes, Terry Gordy and Buddy Roberts. He also became friends with Tim Horner. He and Horner formed a team called the Lightning Express, due to Horner's nickname of "White Lightning" and Armstrong's quickness. Brad wrestled in Mid-South Wrestling (later known as the Universal Wrestling Federation) with Horner and they feuded with the "Sheepherders", later known as The Bushwhackers, Butch Miller and Luke Williams. They also had some matches with future superstars Sting and Rick Steiner. The Lightning Express then went to World Championship Wrestling. World Championship Wrestling In May 1991, Brad was put in a mask as "Badstreet", the masked member of The Fabulous Freebirds along with Michael Hayes and Jimmy Garvin. They won the WCW World Six-Man Tag Team Championship, while Hayes and Garvin also held the WCW United States Tag Team Championship. Brad never revealed his Badstreet identity on television. Later that year he was given another masked gimmick, Arachnaman, who looked so much like Spider-Man that Marvel Comics sued WCW, who soon dropped the gimmick. On July 5, 1992, Brad won the WCW Light Heavyweight Championship (also known as the first incarnation of the WCW Cruiserweight Title), defeating Scotty Flamingo. He soon injured his knee during a tour of Japan and he was stripped of the title two months later at the Clash of the Champions. He returned in November 1992 and remained with the company until early 1995. United States Wrestling Association and Smokey Mountain Wrestling Armstrong worked for Smoky Mountain Wrestling for the rest of 1995, capturing their title in the process, but eventually returned to WCW in 1996. Return to World Championship Wrestling Between 1997 and 1998, Brad had developed a heel turn, where his string of losses was blamed by the "Armstrong Curse". In 1999, he was repackaged as "B.A.", a member of the No Limit Soldiers stable. After the group disbanded, he embarked on a feud against Berlyn, who attacked Armstrong's brother Scott. The feud ran through Halloween Havoc, where Armstrong defeated Berlyn. He was later given the gimmick of "Buzzkill", a takeoff of his brother Brian's gimmick Road Dogg, which was a Vince Russo creation. In fact, the theme song he used for the character was very similar to the New Age Outlaws theme song in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). The gimmick was less successful due to fans feeling it an imitation of the Road Dogg persona, as well as a lack of awareness that the two were brothers. He injured his knee early in 2000 in an accident backstage at a WCW Saturday Night taping, where Armstrong got run over, severely injuring his knee. After going through knee surgery, his WCW contract expired in 2001, and he left the business for a few years, until returning to the independent circuit in 2004. World Wrestling Entertainment On September 12, 2006, Armstrong signed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment and began wrestling at ECW brand house shows and acting as a trainer to the younger members of the roster. In December, around the time rumors of ECW color commentator Tazz leaving the company began to circulate, Armstrong began to make sporadic appearances as a "guest commentator" on the brand. The three-man booth, originally for a single match on the December 19 episode before expanding to a full show on January 9, did not last and Armstrong resumed his role as a producer. Death On November 1, 2012, Armstrong was found dead in his home in Marietta, Georgia, after seeing his physician the previous week for an undisclosed medical issue. The news of his death was broken via WWE.com. In wrestling Finishing move *Russian legsweep Signature moves *Dropkick *Arm drag *Crossbody *Swinging neckbreaker Championships and accomplishments *'Championship Wrestling from Florida' **NWA Florida Global Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Terry Allen *'Exodus Wrestling' **Exodus Wrestling Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *'Georgia Championship Wrestling' **NWA National Heavyweight Championship (2 times) **NWA National Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Bob Armstrong (1) and Tim Horner (1) *'Mid-South Wrestling Association' **Mid-South North American Championship (1 time) **UWF World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Tim Horner *'NWA Rocky Top' **NWA Rocky Top Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Ricky Morton *'Pro Wrestling Illustrated' **PWI Rookie of the Year (1982) **PWI ranked him #'270' out of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003 *'Southeastern Championship Wrestling' **NWA Southeastern Continental Heavyweight Championship (3 times) **NWA Southeastern Tag Team Championship (5 times) – with Bob Armstrong (3), Scott Armstrong (1), and The Shadow (Norvell Austin) (1) **NWA Southeastern United States Junior Heavyweight Championship (3 times) *'Smoky Mountain Wrestling' **SMW Heavyweight Championship (2 times) *'Tennessee Mountain Wrestling' **TMW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Scott Armstrong *'United States Wrestling Association' **USWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *'World Championship Wrestling' **WCW Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time) **WCW World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Michael Hayes and Jimmy Garvin *'Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards' **Most Underrated Wrestler (1987) **Rookie of the Year (1981) tied with Brad Rheingans External links * Profile Category:American wrestlers Category:Commentators Category:Second Generation Wrestlers Category:Armstrong family Category:Championship Wrestling From Florida alumni Category:Continental Championship Wrestling alumni Category:Deep South Wrestling alumni Category:Exodus Wrestling Alliance alumni Category:Georgia Championship Wrestling alumni Category:IWA Deep South alumni Category:Jim Crockett Promotions alumni Category:National Wrestling Alliance alumni Category:NWA Rocky Top alumni Category:NWA Wrestle Birmingham alumni Category:Pro Wrestling Evolution alumni Category:Smoky Mountain Wrestling alumni Category:United States Wrestling Association alumni Category:Universal Wrestling Federation (Bill Watts) alumni Category:World Championship Wrestling alumni Category:World Wrestling Entertainment alumni Category:WrestleReunion alumni Category:Wrestlers who have died Category:1961 births Category:1981 debuts Category:2012 deaths Category:Georgia wrestlers Category:Male wrestlers